'Journeys for a better world': a personal adventure in war and peace

UN Chronicle, Sept, 1995 by Jean Richardot

In his 367-page autobiography, Journeys for a Better World, Jean Richardot, one of the first recruits to the fledgling UN Secretariat in 1946, recounts 30years of service to the United Nations - in New York, Chile, Morocco, Haiti, Uganda, Jamaica, Benin, and Cyprus. Another distinguished Secretariat veteran, former Under-Secretary-General Sir Brian Urquhart, in the foreword to this book, said of Mr. Richardot: "During this time, he never lost sight, as bureaucrats sometimes do, of the basic function of the United Nations - helping human beings to live a better life." Mr. Richardot, a citizen of both France and the United States, served in the armies of both countries in the Second World War, an experience which set the stage for his UN career. In his personal chronicle, he urges consideration of a permanent UN military force to deal with the menace of new wars anywhere in the world, and stresses the need to deal with the frightening gap between the world's rich and poor. Born in New York City, he was raised and educated in France. He holds degrees in law and economics from the University of Paris. Now 84 years old, he has homes in Middlebury, Vermont (where he has taught courses on the UN at Middlebury College) and in New Canaan, Connecticut. His book is available from University Press of America, 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Md. 20706, 1-800-462-64220. The excerpts which follow provide an intimate, inspiring view of the early days of the UN.

A Vow in

a Foxhole

Normandy, France

July 1944

During the battle in the hedgerows, we were frequently shelled by several German 88mm guns that had zeroed in on our positions, causing many casualties. The shells had a high vertical trajectory and fell on us from heights - more like mortar fire - as if from nowhere. It was quite frightening. Our only option was to get into a foxhole as quickly as possible, even if we had to dig it on the spot, and wait for the shelling to end. That morning it was raining and a nasty wind had kicked up. I was in my foxhole, waiting for the end of the shelling, when a piece of Stars and Stripes, the United States Army newspaper, blew slowly in my direction.

It was torn, muddy and yellowed by the sun. I caught it and had begun to read when my attention was caught by a short front page article reporting on some meetings taking place at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D. C.. Experts from the United States and other allied countries were drafting the principles of a new peace organization to replace the defunct League of Nations and establishing the base for a future United Nations organization. Its aim would be to banish war forever from the face of the globe and help member countries to live in peace. respect human rights and improve living conditions all over the world.

I was perhaps skeptical, at first, being too much of a disciple of Montaigne and knowing what had happened to the League of Nations in the 25 years before. This announcement, however, revealed to me, while I sat in danger of being shelled at any moment, had a tremendous impact on me - like a message sent by God. Right then and there, I prayed for peace and the success of this great enterprise and, solemnly, in my foxhole, promised myself that I would do everything in my power to join this new organization if I came through the war alive.

Joining the United Nations

Washington, D.C. - 1946

There were many young men and women like me at the end of the Second World War who wanted to climb aboard the new ship for peace, the United Nations, which was expected to stop war forever. We were all fired up by the noble words in the Preamble to its Charter.

Remembering my vow in the foxhole, I was ready to work in any part of this new organization, destined to become the greatest global human experiment ever. Its purposes, defined in its Charter, were to prevent war, maintain international peace and security, promote social progress and better standards of living in greater freedom, develop friendly relations among nations and achieve international cooperation.

I filled out an application form for UN Secretariat positions and wrote a covering letter to Trygve Lie, the newly-appointed Secretary-General. Then I learned that between 10,000 and 20,000 candidates had applied. My chances appeared slim. How would the UN sort out those thousands of applicants? Since I was working for the State Department, I asked for an interview there with the officers of a new division called International Organizations, which had been responsible for the Dumbarton Oaks meetings where the first blueprint for the UN had been established, and for the San Francisco Conference which approved the UN Charter.

I was told I should talk to Alger Hiss, head of the Division, one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "fair-haired boys". A graduate of the Harvard Law School, he had served as secretary to Justice Felix Frankfurter of the Supreme Court before joining the State Department, and in 1945 had attended the Yalta Conference with Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin as the right arm of Edward Stettinius, United States Secretary of State.